Cargo a rising tide for canal

Wheat and corn are among the new growth prospects

Published 6:33 pm, Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday.(Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday.(Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

Image 2 of 4

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

Image 3 of 4

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

Image 4 of 4

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Lock 3 of the New York State Canal system on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Waterford, N.Y. The New York State Canal system opened for the 2013 navigation season Wednesday. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

Cargo a rising tide for canal

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Albany

The state's nearly two-century-old canal system opened for the season on Wednesday, with growing commercial traffic joining the thousands of recreational boaters who use the 524-mile system.

The canals have become a magnet for tourists, who spend $380 million a year, said Canal Corp. Director Brian U. Stratton, citing a 2008 study.

But the canals deliver more than just tourist dollars.

Stratton said the Erie Canal supplies water to farm irrigation systems in western New York state, as well as hydropower and drinking water in some areas.

Increasingly, the canals also are delivering cargo. In the past, 8,000 to 12,000 tons of cargo would be handled in a typical year. Last year, the canals carried 43,022 tons, and the figure is expected to top 100,000 tons this year, the highest in two decades.

The Troy-based NYS Marine Highway Transportation Co. plans to ship Canadian wheat from Lake Erie through the Port of Oswego and down the Erie Canal to the Port of Albany and customers along the Hudson River, according to Stratton.

When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, it operated with an average water depth of four feet. Improvements over the years have increased the depth to 12 feet and widened the canal to accommodate barge traffic.

Permit fees and canal tolls brought in about $3.4 million in revenues last year. The state Canal Corp. is hoping to recover from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about $80 million to $85 million spent to repair locks through the Mohawk Valley that were damaged by tropical storms Irene and Lee, Stratton said.

Much of that equipment, dates back to the system's last major rebuilding effort completed in 1918.

"Those locks and bridges are working just as they did in 1918," Stratton observed, but said "some will be beefed up" to better weather future storms.

In addition to the Erie, the system also includes the Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca canals.

Some 80 percent of the planned 365 miles of Erie Canalway Trail is completed or under construction, with nearly 1.8 million people using the trail system annually.